Don't post any questions in the comments of this news post. Use the linked topic instead.

These should be questions about MoP and Patch 5.4, not future expansions or far off changes.

No class specific questions please. This includes things like balance between the different healing/tank/DPS classes and specs.

Battle.Net Desktop Client Open Beta
It seems the Battle.Net Desktop Client is rapidly approaching official open beta. If you would like to join now, all you need to do is download the client and log in! You can change the enUS in the URLs below to your own locale if you need another version of the client.

Patch 5.4 on the Background Downloader
Patch 5.4 went on the background downloader this week, so be sure to start loading the patch now so you are ready when patch day arrives!

Patch 5.4 - Potential Release Date
With Season 13 ending soon, we finally have a potential release date for Patch 5.4. There are still many things that could delay the patch, so keep in mind that this date is not final!

PvP Season 13 Ending Soon

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Many weapons have been brought to bear and countless spells have been cast in this action-packed PvP season—now the time has come for the victors to reap their rewards!

On Tuesday, August 27, the 13th Arena and Rated Battleground Season is scheduled to end. On that day we'll begin an approximately one week process to determine end-of-season reward eligibilitys.

Qualified players should note the following in order to ensure you receive your just rewards:

Please refrain from transferring your characters to another realm or faction until after PvP Season 13 has ended.

The awarding of PvP Season 13 titles and mounts will occur approximately two weeks after the season ends.

Conquest Points will be converted to Honor Points at the end of the season, and any Honor above 4,000 will be converted to gold at a rate of 35 silver per point. A few other things to keep in mind once the season has ended:

The Honor cap will remain at 4,000.

All Season 13 items will now cost Honor Points equivalent to their previous Conquest Point cost, with the exception of any items with rating requirements attached.

Season 13 items with rating requirements will no longer be available for purchase.

Arena and Rated Battleground Season 14 will begin approximately one week after the current season ends, and all Personal Ratings will be reset once the new season begins. Additionally, Rated Battleground and Arena matches will not be available during the break between seasons.

In PvP Season 14 you will no longer need to join or create an Arena team to compete, and thus the current Team Ratings will be removed. You’ll be able to queue for an Arena match in groups of 2, 3, and 5 (in line with the Arena team sizes available in Season 13 and earlier), and your opponents will be selected based on the average Match Making Rating of your party.

You can find a complete overview of the changes that are coming to World of Warcraft’s Arenas in PvP Season 14 in our Patch 5.4 Arena Update blog.

Raid Testing Schedule - August 14

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

On Wednesday, August 14, we will continue testing raid encounters in the Siege of Orgrimmar raid. We're wrapping up 10-player Heroic testing at this time, and then movong on to 25-player mode. Apologies for the short notice, but our testing schedule ultimately depends on the patching process and build stability, which aren't always known far in advance.

Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below for all Public Test Realms.

As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a beta environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the boss being tested, or cancel a test entirely, due to bugs, server hardware issues, etc. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information, and thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback.

Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Tier 16 Balance Druid Set Bonus Change
We made this change because, even without the Tier 16 4-piece bonus, we felt that Balance multidotting was too strong. On top of that, with enough mobs available, the Balance rotation was devolving into just Moonfire/Sunfire and spamming Starsurge constantly, to the point of completely ignoring Wrath and Starfire.

The way this works under the hood is by multiplying the base proc chance by SQRT(x)/x, where x is the number of mobs that have Moonfire or Sunfire active. Note that the proc chances are calculated per spell – Moonfire doesn’t count against Sunfire’s proc chance, or vice versa. So as an example, if the base chance is 30%, and you have Sunfire active on 1 mob but Moonfire active on 3, your Sunfire will have a 30% chance to proc Starsurge on a crit, and your Moonfires will each have a 17% chance.

As an aside, this didn’t make the latest PTR push, but we’ll be buffing Wrath, Starfire, and Starfall by 10%. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Macro System Improvements
We're going to look into the possibility of adding more macro slots. Not something I can guarantee for 5.4, but we'll see what we can do.

On a larger scale, we'd really like to find ways to make the macro system smarter. Right now, it's not uncommon to see players with several different macros for raid markers, target switches, and so forth, and we'd like to look into some ways to address that. Again, not likely to see any major changes there in the short term, but we recognize that the macro system could use some updates. It's on our radar. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Dark Legacy Comics - #401 and #402
It has been a busy few weeks, so let's catch up on DLC. Be sure to check out their front page if you are interested in a DLC shirt.

The new client is really amazing. One thing that troubles me though, is a new wave of stolen accounts for the ones that do not use authenticator. A program like can be easily reproduced and turned against the lower IQ'd players.